Category Archives: Blogs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyet6D11KrQ

Kylie Kristen Jenner is an American reality television personality, best known for appearing on the E! reality television series “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.” Kylie heard that her popular Lip Kits had been counterfeited from complaints sent to her on social media. The fakes were sold on discount websites. An investigation revealed that some of the fake Lip Kits contained glue and gasoline and also caused allergic reactions. Klyie is urging everyone to buy her product from her website:

https://www.kyliecosmetics.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-4tQ0Z3uxI&t=360s

Shoe designer Christian Louboutin, well-known for the red sole on his women’s shoes, has a zero tolerance policy for counterfeits. As part of its Stop Fakes Program, Louboutin went out in force over the Christmas season:

Dec 20, 2016 United Arab Emirates. Raid, with the help of local authorities, leading to the seizure of 464 pairs of fake Christian Louboutin® shoes in Ajman.

Dec 13, 2016 Lebanon. Raid, with the help of local authorities, leading to the seizure of 55 pairs of fake Christian Louboutin® shoes.

Dec 7, 2016 Japan. Settlement agreement with a company selling red-soled shoes, including an undertaking not to infringe the company’s Red Sole trademark.

 Dec 1, 2016 United Kingdom. Seizure of 45 pairs of fake Christian Louboutin® shoes by the UK Border Agency in November.

Beware, there’s a new scam using social networking sites to lure users to visit fake Ray-Ban e-shops to buy discount sunglasses. More than likely a victim will be directed to one of the hundreds of websites that sell Ray-Ban and other brand sunglasses for super cheap prices, typically under $20. In fact if you did a a google search for “cheap Ray-Ban sunglasses,” you’d come up with hundreds of websites selling Ray-Bans and other brands for under $20.

Don’t be fooled, they’re all counterfeit.

Typically, your social networking account has been hacked by way of using malware. If any of your friends report this, immediately change your password and if you yourself receive such a solicitation, ignore it. Definitely do not give out give out your credit card information.

I found this news note very interesting: the factory owners in this small coastal town, nicknamed Fake-Nike Town, in Fujien Province spent years studying Nike’s manufacturing techniques and even used promotional videos supplied by Nike as a production guide. Today the local economy is devoted to producing fake Nike sneakers for export.

Alibaba plans to establish an advisory board of brands and trade associations to help protect intellectual property in 2017. This is in addition to other steps the e-commerce giant has taken, noticeably its Good Faith Program, which has much in common to a DMCA Takedown Notice. Alibaba kicked-off the Program in 2015 and gave it a boost earlier this year with the introduction of an IP Joint-Force System. By August of 2016 Alibaba had removed more than 380 million counterfeit product listings and closed 180,000 offending stores while working with over one thousand brands.

 Sneaker culture has led to a new industry: the sneaker resale market, which generates $1 billion in sales yearly. It’s also a market for counterfeit sneakers. One reseller was James Pepion, who did business through Get-Supplied.com and who was raided earlier this year by the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security.

Investigators found that Pepion’s PayPal account for his business had received over $2 million since 2012 with many comments attached to transactions calling the sneakers he sold fake. He was accused of selling fake, unauthorized, and grey market sneakers produced outside of Nike’s partnered factories. The investigation tied Pepion to a Chinese national suspected of organizing the theft and sale of sneakers from factories.

2016-Out-of-Cycle-Review-Notorious-Markets

The United States Trade Representative  (USTR) released its 2016 review of notorious markets, which includes online markets that are ‘notorious’ for selling fake products. Alibaba’s flea market-like Taobao shopping platform was cited (see page 12 of USTR’s Report), after having been taken off of the list for many years.

In a statement, Alibaba said it was disappointed and questioned whether the current political climate was to blame. Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma was a featured speaker at an International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC) convention earlier this year but he dropped out after several IACC members cancelled their membership in protest due to widespread piracy on Alibaba.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndwFMFm4qyk&t=451s

Sneaker Con is a convention where sneaker heads and aficionados gather to swap, buy and trade, as well as to see the latest in sneaker culture. It’s also an ideal location for selling knockoffs. Sneaker Con swept the country this year (see schedule below). Some designer sneakers that retail for thousands of dollars had their debut at Sneaker Con.

Charlotte – December 10^th

New York City – November 5^th and 6^th

Atlanta – September 17^th

Dallas – July 16^th

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQIVkO6TSOo

 More than $10 million worth of counterfeit Apple and Samsung smart phones were seized last week after a months-long investigation that began when suspicious packages began coming in through Kennedy Airport. A total of 31,000 smart phones were seized. The smart phones, which were not made to industry standards and were potentially unsafe, were shipped from two Brooklyn locations to smaller stores and sold to unsuspecting customers.

Check out my podcast interview with Ken Suzan, Esq. on “The Dark Web” or visit Ken’s website: www.IPFridays. Enjoy!